Sky 3D to go live on 3 April in 'thousands' of pubs

Sky's 3D TV channel will kick off on Saturday, 3 April will the Barclays Premier League match pitching Manchester United against Chelsea, the satellite broadcaster said today.

More than a thousand pubs have signed up for the channel, Sky said. It hopes more will follow in the coming months.

During that time, Sky will show no fewer than five live Barclays Premier League games before the season's end on 9 May. It will also show the Coca-Cola Football League play-off finals at the end of May.

Sky hasn't said which pubs will show the matches, but moles tell us it will provide a listing in due course.

Sky will also make the 3D channel available to homes, but not the live matches. Between games, it will broadcast "showreel showcasting the best of Sky 3D, which will cover a wide range of different programming", and that's all that punters are going to see at home.

Not that there's any rush here: all the major suppliers have announced 3D TVs, but few are shipping - and certainly not cheap ones.

Later in the year, Sky will offer a range of movies, sport, documentaries, entertainment and arts content in 3D, it said. The channel will initially be introduced at no extra cost for customers who subscribe to Sky’s top channels and HD pack. ®